The UK’s news landscape could fracture “irreparably” in the next five to ten years with “grim” implications, a new Parliamentary report has warned.

The Future of News report from the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee noted that although a “changing news landscape should not be conflated with its imminent demise”, many media publishers will not survive the new dynamics.

The report made recommendations for action that could help stave off some of the challenges, ranging from firmer action on AI copyright theft to the creation of news “accelerators” and tax breaks for local journalism.

Without action, and potentially with it, the committee warned there is “a realistic possibility” that the UK will see the emergence of a “two-tier media environment” in which a minority of the population is well-served by high-quality, paywalled news while the rest are left with low-quality free information.

The committee said that this “is not a hypothetical worry: the contours of this scenario are already apparent.

“If current trends continue, the gap between those consuming professional journalism and those who do not will widen at pace. There is a realistic possibility of the UK’s news environment fracturing irreparably along social, regional and economic lines within the next five to ten years.”

The committee said it did not believe any silver bullet solutions exist for these problems and that “much of the work needs to be led by industry itself”.

But the role of the Government, it found, should be “to establish the conditions that enable the sector to stand on its own feet and survive a protracted period of technological turbulence”.

Lord Communications and Digital Committee calls for urgent creation of UK AI regime that protects publisher copyright

Among its recommendations, the Lords report said the Government needs to rapidly develop an artificial intelligence regime that encourages innovation without fatally compromising publisher copyright.

Good economic and security reasons for encouraging AI training in the UK, they wrote, did not mean the Government “should pursue rules that primarily benefit foreign tech firms (who seem prepared to pay vast sums on energy, computing facilities and staff—but not on data)…

“Previous efforts to find a solution have been weak and ineffectual.”

Any new regime on AI bots scraping publisher content to power their systems, it said, “must include transparency mechanisms that enable rights holders to check whether their data has been used”, backed up with “meaningful sanctions for non-compliance”.

But it warned against adopting “a flawed opt-out regime comparable to the version operating in the EU.

“Much better means for ensuring technical viability, transparency, consent and enforcement are needed for a new text and data mining regime to work to UK advantage.”

In February the committee said it was insufficient for the (then Conservative) government to “sit on its hands” and wait for issues around copyright and AI to be solved by years of case law.

Lords suggests expansion of search and social media regulation

The peers recommended as a priority that the Competition and Markets Authority should investigate any tech firms “leveraging dominance in one domain, notably internet search, to secure anti-competitive advantages in obtaining data for generative AI training”.

News Media Association chief executive Owen Meredith described this recommendation as “very timely, as the regulator considers which firms and services to prioritise under the new regime for digital markets”.

Similarly, the committee advised the Government to give Ofcom “the necessary powers to investigate tech firm recommender algorithms and the operations of large language models”.

Sudden changes to content recommendation algorithms, for example at Facebook, have significantly disrupted traffic and revenue at publishers in recent years, and some publishers have previously expressed concern that they have been made less visible on social media or in search because of their politics.

The committee also said they had been “disappointed” that the Labour government’s proposed changes to the media plurality regime did not go further.

“The decision to exclude online intermediaries [i.e. social media and search engines] looks oddly short-sighted given the rapid advances in tech firms’ ability to produce news summaries.

“We appreciate that tech firms are not newspapers but this does not mean their evolving role in the news landscape should be overlooked…

“The previous government’s years-long timeline for implementing vital changes has been inadequate,” they added, recommending the government commit to responding to future Ofcom priority recommendations on media plurality within a year.

GB News ‘needs to comply with the spirit’ of impartiality rules while Ofcom needs to be more transparent about its standards, lords say

Other recommendations included a “Future News catalyst scheme” modelled on start-up accelerators, action against legal action used to silence journalism, and tax breaks for hiring local journalists.

The report argued that the Government should consult on allowing a wider range of news providers to carry public notices, which are worth millions in revenue each year but can currently only be published in print newspapers. However it cautioned that using local government advertising to support the media “risks becoming a market distortion”.

And it recommended that the Government’s online advertising taskforce should “review the work and impact of brand safety organisations on news publisher revenue”, which publishers such as Unherd say have unjustifiably harmed their revenue.

On impartiality in television news, the peers said GB News “needs to comply with the spirit of the rules, not stretch them to breaking point”, advising Ofcom to carry out more detailed assessments of audience views on politicians serving as presenters on news channels.

But the peers added that public service broadcasters like the BBC “should reflect on why alternative providers are finding a following and how this relates to the way underserved communities are represented in their own news coverage”.

The committee also wrote that, although Ofcom’s leaders had said the regulator’s approach to impartiality had been clear, “we struggled to reconcile this with the evidence”.

“More transparency in future would help, particularly around the thresholds at which alternative interpretations of the rules might apply.”

GB News responded that it had raised concerns about Ofcom’s unclear approach to impartiality “repeatedly.”

The broadcaster also said: “We take our responsibilities under the Ofcom Broadcasting Code extremely seriously and remain committed to operating a comprehensive compliance regime. But we also strongly believe that this regime should be modern, fit for purpose and much clearer.

“It’s vital the Government establishes conditions to support honest, accurate and informative news which enables the UK media to stand on its own feet through sector-wide structural changes that drive innovation – whilst maintaining media independence.”

The report also warned against schemes that “risk overreach” such as a Government-endorsed kitemark for trusted news.

Sky News executive chairman David Rhodes, writing in The Telegraph, described this as “among its best recommendations… it would be a mistake for our industry to invite government in as an arbiter of our credibility.”

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Ofcom has fined GB News £100,000 after it ruled the broadcaster gave then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a “mostly uncontested platform” to promote his policies ahead of the election.

However the regulator will not enforce the payment of the financial penalty while it awaits the result of a judicial review launched by GB News against its original decision that the programme breached due impartiality rules. Ofcom is defending the case.

Ofcom said it had decided to impose the fine due to “seriousness and repeated” breaches of due impartiality rules by GB News.

It has also ordered GB News to broadcast a statement of its findings, on a date and in a form decided by the regulator.

GB News response to fine: ‘Unnecessary, unfair and unlawful’

GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos called the sanction a “direct attack on free speech and journalism in the United Kingdom.

“We believe these sanctions are unnecessary, unfair and unlawful.

“The High Court has already granted GB News permission to bring a judicial review to challenge Ofcom’s decision that the programme was in breach of due impartiality requirements.

“The sanction proposed by Ofcom is therefore still subject to that legal challenge. The plan to sanction GB News flies in the face of Ofcom’s duty to act fairly, lawfully and proportionately to safeguard free speech, particularly political speech and on matters of public interest.

“We have believed from the very start the People’s Forum was an important piece of public interest programming, and that appropriate steps were taken to ensure due impartiality and compliance with the Broadcasting Code.

“It was designed to allow members of the public to put their own questions directly to leading politicians.

“GB News chooses to be regulated and we understand our obligations under the Code.

“But, equally, Ofcom is obliged by law to uphold freedom of expression and apply its rules fairly and lawfully.

“At the People’s Channel we will continue to fearlessly champion freedom; for our viewers, for our listeners, and for everyone in the United Kingdom. As we have all seen, this is needed more than ever.”

The People’s Forum: The Prime Minister was an hour-long live audience Q&A with Sunak that aired on 12 February. Ofcom found that an “appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints was not presented and given due weight… nor was due impartiality preserved through clearly linked and timely programmes”.

GB News has said the programme was intended to be the first in a series and that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had already been invited to appear, but this never happened after Ofcom launched its investigation.

The People’s Forum was the twelfth time Ofcom ruled GB News had breached the Broadcasting Code since March 2023.

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GB News Radio has overtaken Talk (formerly Talkradio) for weekly reach according to the RAJAR listening figures for the third quarter of 2024.

The station, an audio simulcast of sister TV station GB News, had an average weekly reach of 611,000 in Q3, up 18% on Q2 and up 54% on Q3 2023.

Talkradio on the other hand reached an average of 576,000 listeners weekly — a 17% year-on-year decrease and a 16% month-on-month one.

GB News’s movement up the table comes the quarter after it overtook another Rupert Murdoch-owned station, Times Radio. Times Radio had a good quarter in Q3, however, growing its reach 17% quarter-on-quarter to 557,000.

GB News editorial director Michael Booker said: “Our army of viewers and listeners is growing at a phenomenal rate. This is another milestone moment in GB News’ continuing success story.

“To achieve the level of growth we have is remarkable and is down to the brilliant content our journalists produce, and the loyalty of our viewers and listeners. We look forward to welcoming more and more of them into the GB News family in the years ahead.”

LBC remains ahead of all three stations, with LBC-branded stations collectively reaching 3.4 million listeners on average weekly, an increase of 16% year-on-year. LBC London alone had a weekly reach of 1.4 million over the quarter.

Meanwhile, the reach of BBC local and regional stations declined in the RAJAR figures, which may reflect cost-saving changes made by the corporation that have seen jobs cut and stations sharing newsreaders.

The weekly average reach of BBC local and regional stations was 4.6 million in Q3, a decline of 14% year-on-year and 6% compared with the second quarter. Average hours spent listening per listener also declined 2%.

In cheerier news for the broadcaster, weekly reach was up at both Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live, where average listenership rose 8% and 12% respectively compared with last quarter.

Radio 4's Today show adds 300,000 listeners

Among breakfast programmes specifically GB News Radio also saw the most growth in the RAJAR stats, with average weekly listeners to its show fronted by Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster up 55% year-on-year to 253,000.

BBC Radio 4's Today breakfast news programme added 300,000 listeners compared to the same period in 2023 averaging 5,849,000 listeners per week. Radio 5 Live also grew its breakfast audience, up 30,000 year on year to an average of 1,579,000 listeners per week.

BBC Radio 5 Live and LBC London also saw listenership rise year-on-year, growing respectively 9% to 1.6 million and 14% to 847,000.

Some thirty years after launch Radio 5's weekly reach of six million was said to be its biggest audience in a decade.

The BBC said that the BBC Sounds app drove 622 million plays in the quarter, up 3% year on year.

Times Radio noted that it has reached one million subscribers on Youtube where it offers video highlights of its coverage.

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GB News has been given the green light to challenge a finding that it breached Ofcom’s rules in a Q&A programme with then-prime minister Rishi Sunak.

A High Court judge did refuse to temporarily block Ofcom from sanctioning the channel, but said the watchdog has already pledged not to publish its sanction until the case has been heard in full.

Ofcom said in May it was considering a statutory sanction against GB News for “serious and repeated” breaches of due impartiality rules under the Broadcasting Code.

Its potential sanctions include: telling a broadcaster not to repeat certain content, forcing it to air a correction or statement of the Ofcom findings, a financial penalty, and ultimately shortening, suspending or revoking a broadcast licence.

The sanctions process began after Ofcom decided that an hour-long live programme called The People’s Forum, in which Sunak answered audience questions, failed to meet impartiality rules because the then-PM was not sufficiently challenged.

GB News had intended for Labour’s views to be represented in a follow-up programme with Sir Keir Starmer but this had not been announced publicly at the time of the Sunak Q&A and it was then cancelled after Ofcom’s intervention.

The channel asked the High Court to order that Ofcom could not complete its “sanctions process” amid a legal challenge over the regulator’s finding about the Sunak programme.

Barristers for GB News argued that the publication of the sanction would cause “irreparable damage” to its reputation.

In a ruling on Friday Mr Justice Chamberlain said that the “likely impact” on the channel had been “overstated”.

He did however give the channel the green light to challenge the finding that it had breached Ofcom’s rules in the High Court, and added that Ofcom has already pledged not to publish its sanction until the case had been heard.

Giving judgment at a hearing in London, the judge said: “There is significant public interest in allowing Ofcom to complete its process and publish its decision.”

He continued that the benefits of pausing the sanctions process were “firmly outweighed” by allowing it to continue, which he said would “promote public confidence” and “reinforce the importance of complying with the code”.

But he said that GB News’s case was “reasonably arguable” and its arguments “raise grounds of considerable public importance” which “should be considered at a substantive hearing”.

Tom Hickman KC, for GB News, argued on Thursday that Ofcom had unlawfully found that the breach was “serious and repeated”, and that deciding on and publishing a sanction during the legal challenge would cause “irreparable damage”.

Anya Proops KC, for Ofcom, said in written submissions that the breach was the channel’s twelfth since March last year and that it was “not arguable” that it had “erred in law” through its decision.

She continued that the bid to stop Ofcom from publishing the sanction was based on an “inevitably speculative presumption” of what the sanction would be, and that claims the channel would suffer reputational harm “do not withstand scrutiny”.

A further hearing in the case is expected to be held at a later date.

GB News statement in response to court ruling on Ofcom battle

GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos said in response to the ruling: “We are extremely pleased the Court has recognised the merits of our legal challenge and approved our case to proceed to the next stage.

“We have believed from the very start that the People’s Forum was an important piece of public interest programming, and that it complied with the Broadcasting Code.  It was designed to allow members of the public to put their own questions directly to leading politicians. The programme with the Prime Minister was always intended to be part of a series of programmes, unfortunately the commencement by Ofcom of an investigation into the programme meant that future programmes were suspended and could not be broadcast. 

“GB News choses to be regulated and we understand our obligations under the Code, but Ofcom is obliged by law to uphold freedom of expression and apply its rules fairly and lawfully. We believe some of its decisions in relation to GB News have been neither fair nor lawful and the court has recognised that there are serious arguable issues to be determined in this respect.  As the People’s Channel we will continue to champion freedom; for our viewers, for our listeners, and for everyone in the United Kingdom.

“The Court has also made clear that any sanction which Ofcom may go on to impose on GB News would need to be expressed as subject to the outcome of GB News’ legal challenge.”

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GB News has asked a High Court judge to temporarily block Ofcom from sanctioning it for what the regulator says would be the channel’s twelfth breach of its code in less than two years.

The channel is seeking to challenge Ofcom’s provisional decision that a Q&A with then-prime minister Rishi Sunak, which aired on 12 February, was a “serious” breach of its rules, and that attempts to adhere to them were “wholly insufficient”.

In a hearing on Thursday, lawyers for the broadcaster said that the regulator had acted unlawfully by finding that the breach was “serious and repeated”, and asked a judge to pause Ofcom’s “sanctions process”, pending it getting the green light to challenge the watchdog’s decision.

Mr Justice Chamberlain will rule on whether GB News can challenge the decision, and whether Ofcom should be blocked from handing down its sanction in the meantime.

Tom Hickman KC, for the channel, said: “We say that by launching an investigation within three days, Ofcom failed to provide GB News a reasonable and fair opportunity to comply with [Ofcom’s rules].”

He continued: “It is well arguable that there is nothing that suggests Ofcom had any due regard to the impact of commencing an investigation or fully appreciated that it was possible at all for GB News to comply with [the rules].”

The programme at the centre of the case, titled People’s Forum: The Prime Minister, saw Sunak answer questions from a studio audience and a presenter.

Hickman said in written submissions that the presenter “made clear” that it was the channel’s intention to hold a similar interview with the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, but this did not take place.

Three days after the show aired, Ofcom told GB News that it was investigating the programme over a possible breach of its rules. It then publicised the investigation on 19 February.

In a statement on its website on 20 May, Ofcom said that it believed the programme “broke broadcasting due impartiality rules” and that it was “starting the process for consideration of a statutory sanction” against GB News.

The regulator said it received 547 complaints about the hour-long programme and that it found that the programme had not “challenged [Sunak] or otherwise referred to significant alternative views”, and that GB News should have “taken additional steps” to ensure impartiality.

Ofcom can apply a range of sanctions to broadcasters that breach its code, including fines, directions not to repeat content or to broadcast a correction, and suspending licences.

The sanction for the GB News breach has not yet been published, but Ofcom provided a “preliminary view” to the channel in June this year.

Hickman said in written submissions that Ofcom pledged last month not to publish the sanction before Thursday’s hearing and that publishing it would cause “irreparable damage” to the channel’s reputation.

But Anya Proops KC, for Ofcom, said in written submissions that the breach was the channel’s twelfth since March last year and that it was “not arguable” that it had “erred in law” through its decision.

She continued that the bid to stop Ofcom from publishing the sanction was based on an “inevitably speculative presumption” of what the sanction would be, and that claims the channel would suffer reputational harm “do not withstand scrutiny”.

She said: “Enabling a broadcaster to pause Ofcom’s enforcement actions by challenging the underlying breach decision would have a seriously detrimental impact on Ofcom’s ability to discharge its statutory functions, and by extension on the weighty public interests served by the discharge of those functions.

“Even if publication of a sanction decision would cause some measure of harm to GB News, that harm is inevitably outweighed by the powerful countervailing public interest in ensuring the effective and timely regulation of broadcasters by Ofcom, and, relatedly, the maintenance of public confidence in such regulation.”

Mr Justice Chamberlain said he will hand down his judgment at 12pm on Friday.

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GB News America is growing revenue following the appointment of its first dedicated US correspondent in April.

The overall GB News business is said to have seen US revenues grow by more than 500% over the past 12 months.

Steven Edginton became the first GB News correspondent based in North America after spending three years at The Telegraph where he was video comment editor.

He first became well-known aged 19 in 2019 for his role in a Mail on Sunday scoop that published leaked diplomatic memos written by the UK ambassador to the US about then-president Trump. He has also worked as video politics producer for The Sun, which poached him after just three weeks at political blog Guido Fawkes, and as a digital strategist for the Brexit Party.

GB News, similar to these publications, is often described as right-leaning on politics. But Edginton told Press Gazette he viewed the broadcaster’s role as being “an outsider” and “a disruptor” more than having a particular political bent.

He said: “I wouldn’t say we’re pro- anyone… we’re trying to tell stories from different perspectives, from people whose voices have been, I think, ignored by mainstream organisations for far too long.

“And that’s why Trump and other people are winning these elections, because the people who are voting for him feel that they haven’t had their perspectives told.

“And we’re not going to look down on those people. We’re not going to sneer at them.”

He said that the GB News America is a profitable part of the business already, albeit with a relatively low cost base.

Edginton said people in America’s Rust Belt and between the coasts – essentially those outside New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles – “rightly view the media with complete suspicion because media for decades has been telling them that they’re bigoted or that they’re racist or that they’re evil or something, and I think our goal is to give those people a voice to represent them and I think that’s where we’re distinguishing ourselves from our competitors.”

He added that this is “the exact same in the UK: we want to repeat that model in the US”.

GB News America aiming to reach US audiences with ‘British perspective’

Edginton said the primary aim for GB News America is to reach US audiences and “give them that British perspective on US politics – but also to tell stories that maybe some US media organisations aren’t telling”.

But he also appears on the core TV channel in the UK to explain and react to major US news like Joe Biden stepping down from the presidential race.

About 10% of traffic to the GB News website currently comes from the US, versus 77% from the UK. The next biggest were Australia, Ireland and Canada all on 2%.

GB News has said its internal figures saw it break the 100 million monthly page view mark in July, with 103.14 million page views generated by 21 million visitors. Similarweb puts it on 41.65 million total visits (which can include multiple page views) in July.

Edginton’s work primarily goes out online, with a dedicated America section on the GB News website and playlist within its Youtube channel, but a big interview might also run and be discussed on the linear TV channel.

Alongside Edginton in Washington DC, he said, GB News has a dedicated team in London working on GB News America content as well as the use of a US consultancy firm to help arrange interviews and “enable us to interview and to work with some of the biggest kind of names in the US politics”.

He said highlights of his time so far include a film, available for paying GB News members only, about how Muslim immigration has transformed a city in Michigan.

[Read more: GB News marks milestone of 10,000 paying members]

Referring to the relatively recent arrival and expansion of several legacy British outlets into the US, Edginton said: “What some UK organisations are doing is just sort of churning out content that’s not their own for a US audience, trying to play the digital game a bit, whereas I think what GB News is doing is enabling me to create interesting, original content, like this immigration film…”

He also said that GB News has a “different perspective from Sky and BBC and other broadcasters on America and I think we have better access, particularly on the Republican side of things, and I think we have a different perspective and we can tell stories that the other broadcasters aren’t telling”.

He also pointed to interviews with Donald Trump’s former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and Kimberly Guilfoyle, fiancée of Donald Trump Jr, noting that GB News presenter Nigel Farage helps with accessing senior Republicans.

Edginton has also interviewed British politicians when they visit the US, including ex-home secretary Suella Braverman and former prime minister Liz Truss.

He said: “It’s kind of interesting to get British figures out when they’re in America because maybe their guard’s down a little bit or they’re trying to reach an American audience so the political context is slightly different… they tend to become a bit more radical, or… they’re trying to play for a slightly different audience.”

GB News ‘very ambitious’ about US market

Edginton suggested he can also “get a bit more of a leeway with people” in interviews, whether a high-profile figure or not, because “if you’re an American and you’re speaking to an American journalist, you’ve probably got a view on the media organisation that they work for and you’re probably very sceptical of the media in general.

“I think there’s very low trust in the media here. So speaking to an international broadcaster, a British broadcaster, you might be a bit more willing to maybe speak your mind or be a bit more open minded to speak to us.”

Outside of Edginton’s political focus, he said royal coverage led by GB News presenter Nana Akua is “consistently doing incredible numbers in the States”.

Four months in, Edginton told Press Gazette: “GBNA is a profitable part of the business. I think they’re very happy with how we’re doing.

“We’re reaching the US market, which is always what the aim was, and we’ve seen growth – significant growth.”

GB News overall had operating losses of £42.4m with revenue of £6.7m in the year to May 2023, the latest figures available.

Edginton described GB News as “very ambitious in terms of wanting to expand in the US market”.

For the next few months, the US presidential election provides an “incredibly exciting opportunity for GB News America”, Edginton said.

“I think there’s going to be an interesting opportunity for GB News to, again, give that British perspective to the Americans on what do Brits think about what’s going on? What do Brits think about potentially new President Harris, or Trump coming back?

“But also, again, trying to tell those stories that aren’t getting enough coverage in America for American audiences. So for example, controversial topics around immigration, I’m sure that we’d want to focus on that kind of thing. I think the election is a great chance to tell those stories and to reach a big US audience.”

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Five of the biggest news publishers in the UK and US have increased their core Tiktok followings by more than two million people in just over 18 months.

Press Gazette has updated our ranking of the biggest and fastest-growing news publisher Tiktok accounts, having last done so in January 2023.

The analysis features the 70 news publishers from Press Gazette’s most recent lists of the 50 biggest UK and US news websites that were found on Tiktok. 

Nineteen of the publishers are not included in the growth comparisons as they were not included in our previous analysis – with some of those likely to have been more recent sign-ups to Tiktok. 

The rankings look at each publisher’s main account only but it should be acknowledged that some news outlets create separate accounts for different verticals.

Reuters and The New York Times saw by far and away the biggest percentage increase in their Tiktok following during the period, but this is due to their small followings at the start of 2023.

Among those with over 100,000 followers at the time of our last update, the 371% growth seen by BBC News was the largest.

CNN (238%), GB News (221%), Yahoo News (218%), CNBC (205%) and The Independent (204%) were the other larger accounts to more than triple their follower count.

There was also some impressive growth for local news sites such as the Liverpool Echo (204%) and the Manchester Evening News (193%), though Newcastle’s Chronicle Live (464%) remains small (6,200 followers) despite that growth.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Washington Post (13%) and The Telegraph (14%) took the least advantage of TikTok’s growth.

In terms of absolute growth, there was no matching the Daily Mail, which added 5.6 million new followers over the period. This was more than two million more than any other news publisher in our analysis.

Insider, a section of Business Insider, was a distant second place, adding a still impressive 3.5 million new followers in the period.

CNN (3.1 million), Sky News (2.9 million) and BBC News (2.9 million) also added more than two million followers each since the start of 2023.

The New York Times added almost 750,000 followers from a starting point of under 5,000, while Reuters added over 175,000 from a base of less than 1,000.

Who are the biggest news publishers on Tiktok in the UK and US?

The Daily Mail, which was in third place behind ABC News in January 2023, is now leading the way at the top with nearly ten million followers for its main account on the platform at the time of writing. (Between our data collection and time of publication, it has now surpassed ten million.)

One of its smaller accounts, Daily Mail UK, which has 980,800 followers, would still place comfortably in the top half of the outlets considered. It celebrated surpassing ten million across all its accounts, which also include a global news account and others dedicated to crime, sport, royals, showbiz, the US and Australia, in January this year.

It does have a smaller Tiktok following than Ladbible (13.8 million followers on its main account), but although the younger brand was top of the ranking in 2023 it was not included in our latest update as it is not currently ranked in the top 50 news websites in the UK.

Of the 70 newsbrands covered in this analysis, 21 were followed by more than a million people. This was more than the number (19) who had followings below 100,000.

This increased reach comes off the back of further growth for TikTok, which is now used for news by 8% of people in 12 key markets including the UK and US according to the 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report - up from 1% in 2020.

Across all countries surveyed where Tiktok operates, it is now used for news by 13% of people - overtaking X/Twitter (10%) for the first time - and 23% of 18 to 24-year-olds, the report found.

However 27% of Tiktok users said they struggle to detect trustworthy news on the site, the highest of all social media platforms covered. And only 34% of Tiktok users said they pay attention to journalists or news media, preferring online influencers and personalities. By contrast, on X 53% of users say they pay attention to journalists or news media.

Note: This article was updated after publication to add Channel 4 News, which we discovered had been wrongly missed off our list of the UK's top 50 publishers and therefore met the criteria for inclusion on this ranking.

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More than 10,000 people have signed up as paying members of GB News, according to the broadcaster.

The membership scheme, which soft-launched in November, offers access to paywalled member-only content on the website including extra opinion and analysis, documentaries such as “Britain’s Far-Left Exposed” published in June, polls, quizzes, discounts and in-person events with presenters.

A banner across the top of the homepage states: “Don’t let them silence you – support GB News.”

Emily Fox, head of GBN Membership, told Press Gazette the membership aims to be a “value-added experience. This is not about taking the free content already on TV and putting it behind the paywall.

“We focus on delivering value to our members and generating unique FOMO-style content. Specific members-only documentaries, interviews in full, behind the scenes content, extra analysis and debate that non-members wouldn’t otherwise get.”

Fox added that members are “particularly engaged” with “exclusive analysis following key news events from our presenters and opinion from our core columnists”.

“Our members are galvanised by what we stand for,” she continued. “And we stand for the silent moderate majority who are often ignored. We aim to be the fearless champion of Britain – its voice and its values. We’re giving them a voice and that’s why people are flocking to support GB News.”

The membership price points are £5 (“basic”), £10 (“supporter”) or £20 (“VIP”) a month. Everyone gets the paywalled content, puzzles and weekly quiz while supporters also get regular emails and priority access to events and the top tier adds a further email newsletter and VIP-only events.

If 10,000 people were paying the lower price point of £5 each month, that would generate £600,000 in revenue per year.

The broadcaster primarily drives revenue through advertising but has grappled with a “massive” ad boycott by some major brands since its 2021 launch.

In the year to May 2023, the latest figures available, GB News generated revenue of £6.7m with operating losses of £42.4m.

The latest Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found 8% of people in the UK said they pay for online news and 69% said they would not be willing to pay anything – both the worst levels among 20 key markets.

Asked how GB News had cracked asking people to hand over money, Fox said: “It’s something we’ve worked really hard on – to create a GBN community that viewers/readers feel part of. We prioritise their stories and the issues affecting them.

“A big part of our strategy is not just building a funnel but enhancing the experience at every stage to engage our community. We focus on showcasing their views on TV and in online stories – making sure they have a fantastic forum to debate and discuss with Your Say. One of our most popular editorial features is the Poll of the Day. Britons are signing up to be part of discussion.”

GB News claims 100 million monthly page views mark met

GB News also claimed to have crossed 100 million monthly page views for the first time in July.

The month included the start of the nationwide unrest that followed the stabbings at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, as well as the end of the general election and the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in the US.

GB News said the page view record of 103.14 million page views was generated by 21 million visitors.

The figures are sourced from GB News’ internal tracking so are not comparable with externally-audited industry metrics but are viewed by the broadcaster as being more accurate. Ipsos iris data for June (the latest available) put gbnews.com on a monthly audience of 9.1 million with 30 million page views that month.

GB News launched in June 2021 but moved to a .com domain in March 2023, which chief digital officer Geoff Marsh marked “an ambitious new chapter” and “enables us to compete much more aggressively, much faster, globally”.

This week Marsh said in a statement: “We’ve been the fastest-growing news website in the country for the last 15 months running but it’s not just raw growth – visitors are staying longer and engaging more deeply with our compelling storytelling.

“We set out to be disruptive, to be the fearless champion of Britain, its voices and its values. And millions and millions of people are responding to that.”

Marsh, the former Reach editorial director behind the growth of Express.co.uk, added: “Our owned and operated platforms are more popular than ever but we’re also seeing record growth right across social media, from Youtube – where we’ve now had more than 1.5 billion video views – to X, Tiktok and Instagram.

“This is just the start. There is a huge appetite for what we’re delivering and we have massive ambitions to grow our digital audience further in the months and years ahead. The first few days of August indicate that our growth is set to continue through the summer.”

The online audience of GB News has grown much faster than its linear TV channel where it had a monthly reach of 3.1 million people in June, according to broadcast data body BARB. This compares to 10.5 million for the BBC News Channel and 8 million for Sky News in the same month.

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GB News Radio has overtaken Times Radio’s weekly reach for the first time according to the latest RAJAR radio listening figures for Q2 2024.

GB News Radio, which launched as a simulcast to the TV station in January 2022, reached 518,000 people per week on average in the three months ending 23 June.

It reported year-on-year growth of 63% and was up quarter-on-quarter by 14%. However its total listening hours were up by a smaller 3% compared to Q1, to 3.3 million.

The growth saw it overtake closest rival, News Broadcasting’s Times Radio, which itself launched in June 2020.

Scroll down for RAJAR Q2 2024 talk breakfast figures

GB News commercial director Nicole O’Shea said: “These figures underline the strong continued growth of GB News Radio across the United Kingdom. To do this in the space of just three years is a great achievement and we’re now reaching more listeners than ever all over the UK.

“Overtaking Times Radio is a milestone moment for GB News but our aim is to build on this success and to reach out and connect with an even larger audience.”

Times Radio reported a RAJAR weekly reach of 478,000 for the second quarter of 2024, down 9% year-on-year and 5% quarter-on-quarter.

However News Broadcasting said Times Radio’s 8.9 hours per listener per week – higher than 6.4 hours for GB News Radio and 6.8 hours for Talkradio – and 4.2 million total listening hours showed “these hard-to-reach affluent listeners are highly engaged”.

Talkradio, which had higher listening hours of 4.7 million, changed strategy in the quarter with its sister television version TalkTV ending life as a linear channel in April.

The company said: “Returning to the 17th floor studios at The News Building, Talk’s updated editorial focus is supercharging the brand’s successes, with its Youtube channel recently hitting the one million subscriber mark.”

However Talkradio’s weekly radio reach was down 5% year-on-year and 9% quarter-on-quarter to 689,000.

LBC’s various national and London brands almost entirely saw growth, with the exception of the nationwide LBC News which was down 1% to 981,000 on a quarterly basis. LBC London saw the joint-biggest growth alongside GB News Radio, up 14% to 1.5 million.

Two stations with a strong sports presence saw good growth in the period that saw the Euro Championships as well as other major footballing moments.

BBC Radio 5 Live saw growth of 6% year-on-year and 10% quarter-on-quarter to a weekly reach of 5.4 million while Talksport was up 9% and 1% respectively to 3.7 million.

After several difficult quarters for BBC Local Radio in England, likely as a result to cuts that meant more programme sharing between regions, it was up 2% quarter-on-quarter – although down 12% compared to the same period last year – to 4.9 million.

Conversely BBC World Service saw year-on-year growth of 11% to 1.2 million although it was down 3% compared to Q1.

RAJAR Q2 2024 news/current affairs breakfast show data

GB News Radio's breakfast show presented by Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster also saw the biggest quarter-on-quarter growth, up 13% to an average weekly listenership of 214,000 in their 6am to 9.30am slot

However Times Radio still beats GB News Radio in the mornings, with Stig Abell and Aasmah Mir reporting a weekly reach of 252,000 - although this was down 9% compared to Q1.

Possibly due to the football-heavy period, Talksport's breakfast show (weekly reach of 1.33 million) moved above Nick Ferrari on LBC (1.3 million) in our ranking of news/talk-based stations.

And narrowly behind GB News for biggest growth was again BBC Radio 5 Live, whose breakfast show hosted by Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards grew by 12% quarter-on-quarter to 1.4 million.

BBC Radio 4's flagship Today programme was down 3% to 5.5 million.

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GB News says it will introduce AI-generated sports news bulletins to its radio station, promising they are “the tip of the iceberg” of the broadcaster’s artificial intelligence plans.

The 30-second sports updates will air at the end of the main news bulletins, which are broadcast at 30 minutes past the hour from 6.30am to 11.30pm.

GB News Radio is an audio-only simulcast of the television GB News channel. As of Wednesday morning the AI bulletins did not appear to have gone live on the station.

GB News digital chief: ‘This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of our AI rollout’

The broadcaster said the sports bulletins are written by generative AI using articles on gbnews.com and that they are then read out by “the virtual voice” of GB News presenter Tatiana Sanchez.

GB News chief digital officer Geoff Marsh said the rollout comes “at the same time as we continue to expand and develop our sporting coverage”.

He added: “This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of our AI-rollout. We’re already using advanced video-to-text transcription and are experimenting with several other exciting gen-AI developments that will help us deliver the stories our audience wants faster and more accurately, across all platforms…

“These AI updates are fast, smooth and keep our radio audience informed of everything that’s happening in sport, right up to-the-minute, seven-days-a-week.

“They require almost no human intervention, utilise digital articles which already exist and are delivered using Tatiana’s friendly, recognisable voice which will be very familiar to everyone in the GB News family.”

The rollout makes GB News the first UK news broadcaster to integrate generative AI into its regular public-facing output.

Away from broadcasting, however, the London-focused site of regional publisher National World introduced an AI-generated weather presenter back in October 2023.

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